Mixing apparatus



Dec. 17, 1935. CHIQUOINE MIXING APPARATUS Filed July 27, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Dec. 17, J, E cHlQUOlNE 2,024,509

- MIXING APARATus Filed July 27, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Dec. 17, 1935 J. E. CHIQUOINE MIXING APPARATUS Filed July 27, 1934 s sheds-sheet s INVENTOR Patented Dec. 17, 1935 PATENT OFFICE MIXING APPARATUS John Earnest Chiquoine, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Blaw-Knox Company, Blawnox, Pa., a corporation of New Jersey Application July 27, 1934, Serial No. 737,231

6 Claims.

This invention relates to mixing apparatus suitable for mixing liquids or for mixing finely divided solid material or gas with liquid. Such mixing devices are frequently required in the chemical industries.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the present preferred embodiment of my invention,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the mixing apparatus;

Figure 2 is a View partly in plan and partly in section of an impeller or pump which is located adjacent the bottom of the container in which the mixing is carried out;

Figure 3 is a section on an enlarged scale taken on the line IIIIII of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a plan view of one of the mixin devices, and

Figure 5 is a vertical section taken on the line V--V of Figure 4. I

Mixers now commonly used may be divided intotwoclasses, batch mixers or continuous mixers. In the batch mixers the material to be mixed is placed in the mixer where it is agitated and it is then discharged. Another batch is then placed in the mixer and agitated. In the continuous mixers the materials to be mixed are admitted to the mixer in the proper proportions and the material which has been mixed flows out of the mixer at the same time that material to be mixed is introduced into the mixer. The present invention relates more particularly to the continuous type of mixer in which two or more kinds of 'material, at least one of which is a liquid, are admitted to the container at relatively uniform rates and in the proper proportions and are agitated in the container and pass through it to an outlet, whereby the various portions of the, material admitted remain in the container approximately the same length of time.

In mixing apparatus now commonly in use, the material to be mixed flows through the mixer either by gravity or by providing pumps on the outside of the mixer for pumping the material either before or after the mixing operation; Where pumps located on the outside of the mixer are resorted to, it is necessary to have sufiicient head to produce flow through the piping system as well as through the mixing apparatus itself.

The pumps required for pumping the material through the mixer complicate the piping system and-increase the space which must be used for this purpose. f The disadvantages of using pumps in the piping system on the outside of the mixer are over come according to the present invention by arranging a pump inside of the mixer. This pump is preferably of the centrifugal type which gives considerable mixing. Where additional mixing devices are employed, as in the preferred embodiment, they are connected to the shaft which drives the centrifugal pump.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, the mixing apparatus comprises a vertical cylindrical container 2 provided with an inlet opening 3 at the bottom thereof and an outlet opening 4 at the top. The container is also provided with a manhole 5, by means of which access may be had to the interior of the container when it is empty. The container is mounted on four vertical supports 8 which also support at their upper ends a platform l on which a motor 8 is mounted. The platform is adjustably secured to the uprights E by means of adjusting screws 9. The motor shaft It is connected by a flexible coupling H to a speed reducer 12; The shaft I3 of the speed reducer is connected by a rigid coupling M to a shaft it which extends vertically into the container and to which are connected three mixing devices indicated generally by the reference numeral It, and a centrifugal pump indicated generally by the reference numeral ll. A stufiing box and packing glandassembly I8 is disposed around the drive shaft I5 where it enters the top of the container so as to prevent leakage of the material being mixed.

Referring more particularly to Figures 2 and 3, which illustrate the centrifugal pump I! located adjacent the'bottom of the container 2, the centrifugal pump comprises a steel plate 20 and a cast iron casting 2|. The casting 2| is provided with curved vanes 22spaced apart to form openings 23 for discharging the material at the peripheryof the pump. The plate 20 and the casting 2i are secured to each other by bolts24 which pass through theplate 26 and the vanes 22 of the casting. The casting 2! has a downwardly extending annular flange 25 forming a neck portion. A bushing 26 is located between the neck 25 of the impeller and the inlet coupling element 21, the bushing forming a bearing for the impeller or pump which is connected to the lower end of the drive shaft E5.

The plate 2i: forming the top of the impeller is connected by welding 28 to a coupling element 29 which in turn is secured by bolts 30 to an upper coupling element 3|. The coupling element 3! is connected by 'a bolt 32 and a key 32a to the drive shaft l5. It is thus seen that as the drive shaft is rotated; the impeller or pump I1 is not readily available.

is also rotated and forces the material to be mixed outwardly into the container 2. The impeller not only forces the material through the container, but also accomplishes considerable mixing.

The material, after discharge from the periphery of the impeller, is guided outwardly and upwardly by baflles 33 and 34. The baiile 33 is annular and of dish shape, being convex downwardly, and is so arranged that it will deflect the material from the impeller in an outwardly and upwardly direction in the container. The baflie 33 is supported by an angle iron 33a welded thereto and which is in turn connected to a plate 35 by bolts 36, the plate being welded to the container. The baffle plate 34 is supported by a plate 3'! welded to the baflie plate and to the container 2, this bafile plate 34 also being annular in shape and, like the baille 33, surrounding the periphery of the impeller.

Mounted in the container above the impeller l 1 are three mixing devices 16. The number of these mixing devices may be varied as found desirable under different conditions. The mixing devices are illustrated in Figures 4 and 5. Each of the mixing devices comprises a hub 49 connected to the drive shaft I 5 by a key 41 which is secured by set screws 42. Welded to the hub and extending radially therefrom is a spider 43 having spokes 44. Connected to the ends of the spokes by welding are radially disposed paddles or partitions 45 which are spaced circumferentially and welded to an upper ring 45 and a lower ring 41. The rings 46 and 41 converge toward their periphery. It will be understood that as the shaft is rotated,

- the rings 46 and 41 connected by vanes or partitions 45 rotate as a unit with the vanes and with the spider 43 and hub 40.

Lying in the same horizontal plane as the rotor of each mixer is a stationary element or stator 48 which is composed of an. upper ring-shaped wall 49 and a similar lower ring-shaped wall 50, the upper and lower rings being connected by radially disposed partitions as vanes 55 The stators are supported from the inside of the container 2 by bars 52 secured to the stators by bolts 53 and to plates 54 by bolts 55, the plates 54 being welded to the container.

The material, after passing through the impeller or pump I1, is mixed by the mixing devices It enters the openings 56 and is forced out radially by the rings 46 and 41 and the paddles 45. Since the rings 46 and 41 converge towards the periphery, they have somewhat the effect of a nozzle in compressing the material and increasing its speed of flow. The material is discharged from the periphery of the rotor and is guided outwardly by the partitions or baiiies 5| in the stator, the material impinging against the baffles 5| and being thoroughly mixed. After the material has been pumped to the top of the container, it discharges through the outlet 4. In some cases sufficient mixing may be obtained by the centrifugal pump I! alone without employing the mixing devices i6, in which case the mixing devices may be omitted.

The arrangement disclosed in the present invention eliminates the necessity of using outside pumps which generally require complicated piping systems and space outside of the apparatus which It eliminates the necessity of using separate motors for the pump and the mixing devices. The pump arranged at the bottom of 1 the container materially contributes to the mixing process and delivers the liquids or other materials being mixed at the bottom of the tank near the periphery thereof in such a manner as to contribute to and facilitate the mixing process.

I have illustrated and described the present preferred embodiment of my invention. It is to be understood, however, that the invention may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. Mixing apparatus comprising a closed liquid tight container having an inlet adjacent its bottom and an outlet adjacent its top, means for con tinuously pumping material to be mixed through the container, said means including a pump inside the container adjacent the bottom thereof and rotatable relative to the container and having its outlet immersed in the material being mixed in the container for forcing the material through the container against a static head of the material in the container but outside of the pump, a drive shaft extending vertically into the container through the top thereof and forming a liquid tight seal therewith and connected to said pump, and a mixing device connected to said drive shaft and immersed in the material to be mixed.

2. Mixing apparatus comprising a vertical cylindrical closed liquid tight container provided with an inlet adjacent its bottom and an outlet adjacent its top, means for continuously pumping material to be mixed through the container, said means including a centrifugal pump in the container adjacent its bottom and rotatable relative to the container and having its outlet immersed in the material being mixed in the container for forcing the material through the container against a static head of the material in the container but outside of the pump, a drive shaft extending into the container through the top thereof and forming a liquid tight seal therewith and connected to said pump, and a plurality of centrifugal mixing devices secured to said shaft above said centrifugal pump and immersed in the material to be mixed.

3. Mixing apparatus comprising a vertical cylindrical closed liquid tight container provided with an inlet adjacent its bottom and an outlet adjacent its top, means for continuously pumping material to be mixed through the container, said means including a centrifugal pump in the container adjacent its bottom and rotatable relative to the container and having its outlet immersed in the material being mixed in the container for forcing the material throughthe container against a static head of the material in the container but outside of the pump, a drive shaft extending into the container through the top thereof and forming a liquid tight seal therewith and connected to said pump, and a mixing device in the container above said pump and immersed in the material being mixed, said mixing device including a rotor connected to said shaft and a stator connected to said container.

4. Mixing apparatus comprising a vertical cylindrical closed liquid tight container provided with an inlet adjacent its bottom and an outlet adjacent its top, means for continuously pumping material to be mixedthrough the container, said means including a centrifugal pump in the container adjacent its bottom and rotatable relative to the container and having its outlet immersed in the material being mixed in the container for 7 thereof and forming a liquid tight seal there- 7 with and connected to said pump, and a plurality of centrifugal mixing devices secured to said shaft above said centrifugal pump and immersed in the material to be mixed, each of said mixing devices comprising a rotor secured to said shaft and a stator secured to said container, the rotor having ring-like walls connected together by radially disposed partitions, the stator having ringlike parallel spaced horizontal walls connected together by radially disposed partitions, the stator surrounding the rotor and lying in the same horizontal plane.

5. Mixing apparatus comprising a vertical cylindrical closed liquid tight container provided with an inlet adjacent its bottom and an outlet adjacent its top, means for continuously pumping material to be mixed through the container, said means including a centrifugal pump in the container adjacent its bottom and rotatable relative to the container and having its outlet immersed in the material being mixed in the container for forcing the material through the container against a static head of the material inthe container but outside of the pump, a drive shaft extending into the container through the top thereof and forming a liquid tight seal therewith and connected to said pump, and a plurality of centrifugal mixing devices secured to said shaft above said centrifugal pump and immersed in the material to be mixed, each of said mixing devices comprising a rotor secured to said shaft 'and a stator secured to said container, the rotor having ring-like walls which converge toward their periphery and are connected together by radially disposed partitions, the stator having ring-like parallel spaced horizontal walls conclosed liquid tight cylindrical container provided the stator surrounding the rotor and lying in the same horizontal plane.

6, Mixing apparatus comprising a vertical closed liquid tight cylindrical container provided with an inlet adjacent its bottom and an outlet adjacent its top, means for continuously pumping material to be mixed through the container,

said means including a centrifugal pump in the container adjacent its bottom and rotatable relative to the container and having its outlet immersed in the material being mixed in the container for forcing the. material through the container against a static head of the material in the container but outside of the pump, a drive shaft extending vertically into the container through the top thereof'and forming a liquid tight seal therewith and connected to said pump, said inlet forming a. liquid tight seal and bearing for said pump, a'plurality'of centrifugal mixing devices in said container above said centrifugal pump and immersed in the material to be mixed, each of said mixing devices comprising a rotor secured to said shaft and a stator secured to said container, the rotor having ring-like walls connected together by radially disposed partitions, the stator having ring-like parallel spaced horizontal walls connected together by radially disposed partitions, the stator surrounding the rotor and lying in the same horizontal plane.

JOHN EARNEST CHIQUOINE. 

